The present invention relates to a tissue or foreign body extractor, such as for use in a biopsy needle or flexible endoscope.
It is a common surgical procedure to cut and remove internal body tissue by remotely manipulating cutting and grasping elements passed through devices such as catheters or endoscopes (xe2x80x9cremotely operated devicesxe2x80x9d) The remotely operated devices are typically introduced into the patient""s body through incisions or body orifices.
In a core biopsy, for example, a needle having a lumen therethrough and one or more cutting edges is employed as the cutting element. The cutting edges of the needle are advanced into the tissue, cutting a core of the tissue that is received in the lumen.
Often, a separate grasping element is used in the remotely operated devices that employs closable jaws. However, such grasping elements are relatively bulky and require additional space for opening the jaws. It is desirable for the remotely operated devices to be as slender as possible, to minimize invasiveness and to permit threading the remotely operated devices through narrow body passageways such as the bronchial air passages or the esophagus. Moreover, providing separate opposably moving parts increases manufacturing cost and decreases reliability.
To address these problems, the grasping element may be replaced with suction provided to the end of the remotely operated device. The suction is communicated through the device to the tissue, dislodging the tissue and conveying the tissue through the device. However, providing suction requires a pump which increases the cost and complexity of the procedure, and the suction is difficult to modulate or control without the use of additional costly hardware.
Accordingly, there is a need for a tissue or foreign body extractor that provides for minimum size, decreased cost and complexity, and increased reliability and operational control.
The tissue or foreign body extractor of the present invention solves the aforementioned problems and meets the aforementioned needs by providing, in a biopsy embodiment of the invention, a coil member disposed within the lumen of a needle. The needle includes one or more cutting edges for cutting into tissue located in the body, a core of the tissue being received in the lumen. The coil member is connected to an elongate shaft that extends through the lumen of the needle for remotely operating the coil member. Turning the shaft threads the coil member into the core. Thereafter, retracting the shaft tears the core at its juncture with the remaining mass of tissue and withdraws the core from its locus in the body.
In a foreign body extractor embodiment of the invention, the needle is preferably omitted, and the coil member is anchored to the foreign body for withdrawing the foreign body.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, the coil screw member is provided in an endoscope according to either of the embodiments mentioned above.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved tissue or foreign body extractor.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a tissue or foreign body extractor that provides for minimum size, to permit introduction into or through narrow body passageways.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a tissue or foreign body extractor that provides for decreased cost and complexity, such as in manufacturing and during operation.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a tissue or foreign body extractor that provides for increased reliability, including device and operation reliability
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tissue or foreign body extractor that provides for increased ease of controlling of the device.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the following drawings.